ETAN Opposes Adm. Blair as Director of
National Intelligence

Contact: John M. Miller,
+1-718-596-7668, 917-690-4391

December 5 -
"President-elect Barack Obama's
rumored selection of
Admiral Dennis C. Blair for Director of National Intelligence is
unacceptable," the East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network (ETAN) said today.

"During his years as
Pacific Commander, Blair actively worked to reinstate
military assistance and deepen ties to Indonesia's military
despite its ongoing human rights violations in East Timor
and consistent record of impunity," said John M. Miller,
National Coordinator of ETAN.

"His actions demonstrate
the failure of engagement to temper the Indonesian
military’s behavior and his actions helped to reinforce
impunity for senior Indonesian officials that continues to
this day," added Miller. "He undermined the Clinton
administration's belated efforts to support human rights and
self-determination in the Indonesian-occupied territory and
opposed congressional efforts to limit assistance.”

It is
unfathomable that Obama would consider
appointing someone to such a prominent position
who has shown so little concern for human rights
in the past.

“It is unfathomable that
Obama would consider appointing someone to such a prominent
position who has shown so little concern for human rights in
the past. Can we expect someone who has sought to undermine
efforts to link human rights to military assistance to be a
champion of reform? We don't think this is the kind of
change people are expecting," said Miller.

In April 1999, just days after Indonesian security forces
and their militias carried out a brutal churchyard massacre,
Adm. Blair delivered a message of 'business-as-usual' to
Indonesian General Wiranto, then Commander of the Indonesian
armed forces. Following East Timor's pro-independence vote,
Blair sought the quickest possible restoration of military
assistance, despite Indonesia's highly destructive exit.

In April 1999, Blair met in Jakarta with General Wiranto,
then the Defense Minister and the commander of Indonesian
forces, just days after dozens of refugees in a Catholic
church in the town of Liquica, East Timor were hacked to
death by machetes by militia members backed by the military
(including Kopassus) and Brimob troops.

Instead of pressuring Wiranto to shut down the militias,
Blair promised new military assistance, which the military
"took as a green light to proceed with the militia
operation," according to Allan Nairn, writing in the
Nation
magazine.

Nairn reported that a classified cable summarizing the
meeting said that Admiral Blair "told the armed forces chief
that he looks forward to the time when [the army will]
resume its proper role as a leader in the region. He invited
General Wiranto to come to Hawaii as his guest in
conjunction with the next round of bilateral defense
discussions in the July-August '99 time frame. He said
Pacific command is prepared to support a subject matter
expert exchange for doctrinal development. He expects that
approval will be granted to send a small team to provide
technical assistance to police and...selected TNI personnel
on crowd control measures." Nairn writes that the last offer
was "quite significant, because it would be the first new US
training program for the Indonesian military since 1992."

Blair was fully aware of what was going on in East Timor at
the time: "From a windowless concrete building near Blair's
Pacific Command headquarters, seven intelligence analysts at
the 'Joint Intelligence Center,' the world's largest
military intelligence center, had tracked the movements of
Indonesian and militia forces since May 1998," according to
the Washington Post.

In the bloody aftermath of East Timor's independence vote,
"Blair and other U.S. military officials took a forgiving
view of the violence surrounding the referendum in East
Timor. Given the country's history, they argued, it could
have been worse. 'What they did was absolutely remarkable,'
said one top Pentagon general,"
reported the Washington
Post’s Dana Priest.

Blair has acknowledged
that U.S.-trained Indonesian military officers were among
those allegedly involved in crimes against humanity in East
Timor. "But at no point, Blair acknowledges, did he or his
subordinates reach out to the Indonesian contacts trained
through IMET or JCET to try to stop the brewing crisis,"
wrote Priest. "It is fairly rare that the personal relations
made through an IMET [U.S.-funded military program] course
can come into play in resolving a future crisis," he told
her.

In April 2000, over the objections of U.S. Ambassador to
Indonesia Robert S. Gelbard, members of Congress and State
Department officials, Blair made the first high-level visit
to Indonesia since all military assistance was cut off in
the aftermath of the 1999 independence referendum in East
Timor.

Despite Blair's repeated overtures and forgiving attitude to
Indonesia's military elite, they were of no help in his
post-military role as chair of the Indonesia Commission at
the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). In 2002,
Blair headed a delegation of observers who intended to visit
West Papua. The government refused to let them in, with the
Foreign Minister declaring that "there is no need for them
to come to Papua."

The reason was clear: West Papua has become the new focus of
Indonesian military and militia brutality. The military's
mission is to violently suppress West Papua's simmering
independence movement, its sympathizers, and terrorize
ordinary citizens - and outside observers are not welcome.
Though Blair's dream of renewed military engagement with
Indonesia has been realized under the Bush administration,
the Indonesian military's human rights violations continue, as does impunity for its senior officers.

General Wiranto was
indicted in February 2003 by a UN-backed
court in East Timor for his command role in the
1999
violence. The
attack on the Liquica church is among the crimes against
humanity cited in the indictment. He is currently a leading
candidate for President of Indonesia in elections to take
place next year.

ETAN was formed in 1991. The U.S.-based organization
advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for
Timor-Leste and Indonesia. ETAN was a major participant in
the International Federation for East Timor's (IFET)
observer mission for the 1999 referendum. For more information see ETAN's
web site: http://www.etan.org.